The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

Seeing Ena’s face slowly starting to harden, Asel quickly explained his current situation before she could misunderstand.

He concisely conveyed how he had fled to the slums to escape his demon-worshipping parents, how he was now living as a drug courier, and how Evelyn used to work in a factory but was now sick and needed medicine as soon as possible.

“So becoming a disciple seems difficult. If I disappear, I’d have to leave my sister here alone.”

Asel was quite fond of Evelyn. If they had grown up normally, the two of them might have lived bickering like other siblings, but the environment in which Asel and Evelyn grew up was not so easy.

The village where they lived was in some remote mountain valley without even a name. With barely one or two visitors a year, it was a closed community where only the residents lived together.

Asel and Evelyn grew up experiencing all sorts of unreasonable treatment there. They were beaten countless times and had to handle all the village’s menial tasks, such as cleaning up livestock excrement, chopping firewood, and fetching water.

They lived working to death all day long except for sleeping hours. It was as if they were thrown into an environment where they had no choice but to rely on each other.

This relationship became even closer when they left the village and settled in the slums. Therefore, Asel had no intention of leaving Evelyn alone here and suddenly departing by himself.

“You’re a good brother.”

Ena said this with a sympathetic smile after hearing Asel’s tragic life story. Then she bent her knees and met his gaze.

“Don’t worry. If I take you as my disciple, I’ll take care of your sister too.”
“…Really?”
“There’s no reason why I can’t, right?”

Ena smiled gently. She brushed up Asel’s hair that was sticking to his face from the rain and stood up.

“More importantly, you said you need to buy medicine for your sister now, right? Let’s go. I have some medicines with me.”
“…Medicine?”
“An alchemist in the same organization often hands me various medicines. Among them, there’s one that can cure any disease.”

Ena turned to look at Asel and took out several sloshing glass bottles from her bosom. From bottles containing ominous black liquid to ones half-filled with red, blue, yellow, and other elixirs. Ena carefully classified them, floating them with magic, then smiled faintly as she grasped a bottle filled with emerald-colored liquid.

“Lead the way.”

Asel stood there blankly for a moment at those words, then seemed to make up his mind and started walking in the lead. Ena followed him, recalling the dosage instructions she had heard from the alchemist.

It had been a long time since she walked on two feet without riding lightning.

Ena frowned for a moment when she saw the house Asel led her to.

A shanty on the verge of collapse, swarming with rats and insects. The wooden walls, gnawed by insects, were riddled with holes, and the slightly sunken ceiling creaked precariously as if it might collapse on the interior at any moment.

‘So people can live even in a place like this.’

She inwardly marveled at human adaptability as she followed Asel into the house.

Passing through the wooden door that was embarrassing to even call an entrance door, she saw a small girl lying in the middle of the living room. She was in a precarious state, sweating profusely and convulsing in her limbs. Her face was so red it looked cooked like a thoroughly heated metal lump.

“Sis!”

Asel screamed and ran towards Evelyn. He hurriedly patted Evelyn’s shoulder and called her name, but there was no response. She was just breathing roughly.

Even that was gradually becoming faint. Her limbs wouldn’t stay still, and her ragged clothes stuck to her skin due to cold sweat. It was difficult to even undress her, and there weren’t any clothes to change into in the first place. Asel gritted his teeth and removed the metal he had placed on Evelyn’s forehead. Like the warmed metal, Evelyn’s forehead was still hot.

“…Magician.”

Asel called Ena with an expression on the verge of tears. Even a child with an extraordinary mind for his age reverts to a child of that age when faced with the imminent death of a blood relative and unable to do anything. Ena looked down at Asel, full of worry and concern, and smiled faintly as if to say not to worry.

There was no reason to delay. Ena immediately opened the cap of the medicine bottle she had taken out and began to slowly infuse magic into it.

Whoosh!

As the pure magic released without changing its nature touched the medicine, the emerald-colored reagent began to glow with a soft light. Ena poured in magic until just before the light faded, and when it became slightly darker than before, she carefully poured the reagent into Evelyn’s mouth.

“……”

She slightly lifted Evelyn’s head to ensure she could drink the medicine properly.

After confirming that Evelyn’s throat moved once, Ena nodded. Asel asked her in an anxious voice.

“…Is it all done?”
“Ah, yes. If you wait about an hour, she’ll open her eyes soon. The effect of the medicine… is already circulating.”

Ena said as she lightly stroked Evelyn’s forehead.

As she said, Evelyn’s rough breathing had somehow returned to normal. Her convulsing limbs had also found their place, and except for the cold sweat that had already formed, there didn’t seem to be any additional cold sweat flowing. Asel only let out a sigh of relief after coming close to Evelyn and confirming these things himself.

“Haa……”

He plopped down nearby and rubbed his face with his hands. Along with his contorting face following his hand movements, anxiety and fear slowly peeled away. If he hadn’t met Ena. If she hadn’t readily shown kindness, he probably would have lost Evelyn today.

Thinking this, Asel deeply bowed his head towards Ena, who was standing still, looking at him with gentle eyes.

“Thank you. I feel like saying it a hundred times wouldn’t be enough. Really, really thank you.”

Ena smiled faintly at Asel’s words of gratitude. She approached Asel’s side, sat down gently, and took off the hat she was wearing.

“You don’t need to thank me. It’s natural for a master to help her disciple, right?”
“…Master, you say.”

Asel asked back with a bitter smile. At this reaction, Ena turned to look at Asel with an expression that seemed to say ‘surely not’.

“…Don’t tell me you’re not going to be my disciple?”

I thought I had scored some points by saving Evelyn, but is it still not enough? Ena inwardly felt impatient as she thought this.

Of course, she had no intention of taking credit for saving Evelyn. She saved her because she could save her. If Ena had no means to save Evelyn, she wouldn’t have saved her. So grumbling about this would be beyond pricking one’s conscience, it would be at the level of completely disappearing. Although she had experienced many things while living as a magician, she still had a human heart left.

‘But I thought I had built up a little goodwill. Was that not the case?’

Ena slightly pouted her lips and weakly hugged the hat in her hand.

At that moment, Asel opened his mouth, watching Evelyn who had started to stir slightly.

“I’d like to do it if you’d let me. Being your disciple.”
“…! Really?”
“Yes. But I’m not sure if I have talent. I’m worried that you might be disappointed if you take me with you…”
“Disappointed?”

Ena snorted and turned to look at Asel. There was undisguised greed in her eyes.

“For you to disappoint me, there would have to be a development like ‘Actually, I was a demon, and I stuck to you to suck your power.’ Other than that, you can’t disappoint me. Your talent is that special.”
“…Is that so?”
“Of course. Moreover, I’ve never seen someone awaken to magic power on their own while watching a battle. You may not have fully realized it, but that alone is amazing. So…”

Ena smiled as she patted Asel’s head with her hand.

“Let’s go together. I’ll teach you magic. And show you the world.”

Ena held out her hand towards Asel. Asel stared blankly at that small, snow-white hand for a while, then smiled and stretched out his right hand.

“Mmm……”

Evelyn groaned and tossed and turned. She wriggled for quite a while longer while lying down, then slowly began to open her eyes. Heavy eyelids covered her vision, but she forced herself to shake off the drowsiness as she got up.

She usually got up right away, but why was she so tired today? Was it because she had been sick and just woke up?

She looked around quickly while letting out a refreshing yawn. Right after that, her body stiffened abruptly.

“Uh, uhh……”

The place in her view was unfamiliar. No, more than unfamiliar, it was alien. Evelyn had never been in such a space in her life. She started to quickly gather information while touching the floor that felt so soft it was almost addictive.

The overall space wasn’t very large. At most, about the size of a master bedroom. However, the walls finished with high-quality wood indicated that this space was certainly not in the slums.

What about the ceiling? It was wrapped in an overall luxurious manner, with a lantern emitting yellow light brightly illuminating the space.

Warm sunlight was seeping into the interior through the transparent window on the wall, and the scenery beyond the window was changing rapidly. Upon closer observation, it looked like it was moving. No, it wasn’t just looking like it was moving, it was actually moving. Evelyn covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

‘Am I… being kidnapped?’

Ominous imaginations arose in her mind. She recalled the situation just before falling asleep and cast her gaze to the opposite side. And in her eyes, she saw a strange snow-white woman and Asel sitting there. The two of them hadn’t noticed that Evelyn had woken up and were in the middle of an intense conversation about something.

“Detailed education will start after we arrive in Wiheim. Before that, I’ll just tell you what mana and magic power are.”
“Mana is the substance that forms the basis of this world, and magic power is the energy that magicians use to manifest magic by refining mana. Is this correct?”
“…What, how did you know?”
“I read the book in the carriage. It was written there like that.”
“You read the book? You can read?”
“It’s a small talent.”

The content of their conversation didn’t register in her ears. Only the image of the two was clearly visible in Evelyn’s view. She gasped for breath and opened her mouth, recalling the words Asel had uttered with a resolute expression just before she fainted.

‘He said he’d be back before sunset, he said he’d get medicine! In the end, did he sell himself to get money for medicine?’

Tears welled up in Evelyn’s eyes. She glared at the paper the suspicious woman had taken out and bit her lip.

That paper must surely be a slave contract. If she could just tear that up, Asel could be freed too. Thinking this, Evelyn suddenly stood up. With that big movement, the two finally noticed that Evelyn had woken up.

“Sis!”

Asel called out in a bright voice. Evelyn gave him a brief glance, then glared at Ena and spat out.

“Let Asel go! You witch!”
“Sis?”
“Huh?”

Asel said with his eyes wide open, and Ena, who had been planning to quietly watch their reunion, tilted her head.

She stared at Evelyn, who was glaring at her with hostile eyes, and thought with a serious expression.

Maybe she hasn’t fully recovered yet?

“I said let him go! Witch!”

It seemed that was indeed the case.